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Sophie Turner: growing up on Game of Thrones

Sophie Turner was a schoolgirl from Leamington Spa when she made her acting debut on the violent and sexually explicit series, which made her a star. She tells Ben Machell what it’s like to come of age in the public eye

Sophie Turner, 21, with Trina the staffieMatt Holyoak

The Times, July 1 2017, 12:01am

Sophie Turner was 12 years old when she auditioned for Game of Thrones and 15 when it was first broadcast. She’s now 21. That’s an entire adolescence set to a backdrop of violent dynastic strife in the fantastical land of Westeros; of sex, murder, incest, betrayal, mutilations, dragons, zombies, gigantic bloody battles, children burnt at the stake to appease vengeful gods, plus a bit more sex. Well, a lot more sex. Game of Thrones is one of the muckiest things on mainstream TV. And when you’re a tweenage actress from rural Warwickshire on your first job, this can represent a learning curve. Turner recalls the first few times she met up with the other actors to go through their lines.

The first time I found out about oral sex was reading the Game of Thrones script. I was 13. I said, ‘Wow! People do that?’